DMA: New Project to Help Digitize Ship Registration Process

The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) revealed it has launched a pilot project to shed light on the long-term possibilities of digitizing the entire ship registration process.

As disclosed, the project has been created in order to promote digitalization in Denmark as shipowners are still required nowadays to fill in and handle documents manually.

”The Maritime Strategy Team has recommended full digitalisation of, inter alia, the register of shipping. By means of an entirely new technology such as blockchain, this pilot project may pave the way for a more open, secure and efficient registration of ships on the Danish registers. This is important in an industry with a distinct focus on keeping costs low and where trust in all the parties involved is a necessity,” Brian Mikkelsen, Denmark’s Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, commented.

“In order for us to retain our maritime position of strength, Blue Denmark must seize and develop the potentials of digitalisation. Therefore, we must be frontrunners when it comes to using new technological solutions,” Mikkelsen added.

Users will be involved in the pilot project aimed at clarifying “whether blockchain technology could support the DMA’s digitalisation efforts positively and help bring about an open, secure and more efficient approach to the date recorded in the registers of shipping.”

The new technology would mean that everyone who is part of the “chain” has a full overview of the processes at any time and nobody can amend or forge documents without others being made aware of it. Therefore, documents such as mortgage deeds can be handled in a safe manner, according to the DMA.